My friend Laura says, “Oh my god. You are my second friend obsessed with llamas.” Where has this fascination come from and why is it surfacing now? To begin with, I believe it has to do with the fact that I want a job that requires something other than office work. I enjoy animals and I want to be outside moving around. My desperate need to ‘get out’ has revealed itself through llamas…Now, going off on several tangents here I have to say many good things could come out of a llama farm. I would still be able to use my social media and marketing skills. I have to advertise and get the word out about my farm. I’d also use my development skills as I try to create a client base. All things I can totally handle. I also have to be creative about it and do research on it; two other things that keep my mind active, healthy and happy.
When did my love (?) of llamas begin? It started in high school when I began to learn Spanish and study the Latin American culture. Llamas are a big part of life for many living in Latin and South America. When I was in Peru I saw llamas close up in every town we visited. They roamed free on Machu Picchu. I had a llama shirt, a llama wall hanging, a bronze llama, a llama toy, llamas on pottery and even a silver llama ring from Bolivia. I looked over at a picture on my desk. I took it in Cuzco, Peru and guess what…it has a llama in it.
A golf course by the Larson Cottage used to have llama caddies. I always wanted to go there. Then for awhile my dad and I joked about starting a llama farm in Northern Minnesota and offering llama hiking trips. So the idea of llama farming isn’t a new one in my life. It has just resurfaced.
Now I know starting a llama farm would be a lot of work and cost money. I don’t even know what one does with llamas. I’m guessing some places buy the fur. Do people eat llamas? Is there a good market for llamas? What is the purpose of a llama farm? Now, these are all realities I realize exist. Yet, I’m so curious about it that I’m starting to research it. I’m already doing the prep work it would take to start a llama farm in the first place.
Maybe this is my calling; to be a llama farmer. Hey, I said I needed a change of pace. I said I wanted to go out and try something completely different. This would certainly be it OR I am just presently obsessed with it because it takes my mind off the reality of trying to find a new job in a horrible economy and all other stuff I don’t really want to deal with. Yet, they say go out and live…well this would be something crazy awesome to add to my Life Book. I even have a name for my farm, but that I must keep secret until my llama unveiling. Just you wait.